"Blue (Apron) is the New Black..."

My Spinach and Butternut Squash Pizza

Cooking is something that I am learning to enjoy. However, I like to get things done quickly, so I’m impatient with recipes that require any more work than grilling or roasting. I also tend to stick with salt and pepper and one or two “go to” herbs for seasoning. Rarely do I go outside of my comfort zone any time besides a holiday meal.

When I started reading about some of the subscription meal prep delivery companies, I was curious. Was it worth the money? Would I be able to make the recipes? Would I like the food?  I finally settled on Blue Apron, and tried some of their meals last week.

According to a 2014 article in Forbes Magazine, Blue Apron was founded in 2012 by Matt Salzberg, a Harvard M.B.A. with venture capital experience, and Ilia Papas, an engineer and former consultant, and chef Matt Wadiak. The company creates meal kits: precisely portioned ingredients and specific instructions needed to cook exactly three dinners a week and sold on a subscription basis.

Portioned ingredients

Blue Apron’s approach, the meal kit, offers the convenience of delivery while keeping home cooks in the kitchen. The precisely portioned dinners minimize waste and allow consumers to try ingredients they might not otherwise buy, at a price they can afford–about $10 per meal per person.

Originally named Part & Parsley, Chef Wadiak insisted that the new name be based on the traditional garb worn by French chefs in training: blue aprons.  He wants home cooks to learn new techniques and get comfortable with “different cultivars.”

I tried two recipe kits that served four people, and one kit that served two. (The kit for two, Asian Cod, belonged to my daughter who does NOT like fish). They contained all the ingredients needed to cook the meals, complete with recipes and step-by-step photos.

The meals came neatly packaged in a cardboard box lined with ice packs to keep the contents fresh for a few hours. The meats, fish and chicken were vacuum-sealed, which gave me an extra week or two to use them, just in case I couldn’t be home to cook one of the nights.

Each recipe was well explained and included all ingredients needed, so making dinner was almost as easy as ordering carry-out, without the guilt.

The photos included with the recipes showed the major steps in the process with instructions below the picture of how to prep and cook all the ingredients.

They post the upcoming two week's menus on the site, so you have the opportunity to make sure the menu looks good before ordering. Nutritionally balanced, each meal comes out to around 650-700 calories per person. In a restaurant, you have no idea how much oil, butter, salt or other secret calories are going into your meal, so you definitely have more control.

Although Blue Apron is a subscription service, you can opt out of any week or skip a few weeks depending on your food preferences or eating plans.

And even if you don’t order one week, the recipes are free to anyone browsing Blue Apron's website and aren't restricted to paying customers. So you could potentially pick up the necessary ingredients at your grocery store (But that kind of defeats the purpose of having everything you need right at your fingertips).

So my take on the meal kits:

Packaging: I’m obsessed with food freshness and tend to buy the food I’m going to cook that same day, so I was a little wary of the “packaged” produce and proteins, but I was pleasantly surprised. The kale and spinach were bagged, but still tasted delicious. The herbs were plentiful and free of any spots. Vacuum sealing the proteins made them taste like I had just purchased them at the store and the quality of the cheeses, and condiments was superb.

Variety: You can list your preferences and dislikes when you sign up, so they won’t send you something you are allergic to or don’t eat. But, there are six choices for three meals and I don’t think you can pick the exact ones you want delivered.

The ingredient variety was outstanding though. I used spices, marinades, herbs and veggies that I haven’t cooked with or tried before. Tamarind on the cod, jasmine rice, kale in a casserole and squash and spinach on a pizza; I never would have considered those combinations.

Cod with tamarind over jasmine rice

Convenience: Delivered to my front door, everything I needed, and exact instructions. What could be better?

Taste: Ok, this is the most important and the meals didn’t disappoint. Blue Apron uses high quality ingredients and the flavor combinations are outstanding. I never would have thought to mix honey, ricotta cheese and black pepper and dollop it onto a hot pizza, but the flavor was incredible.

Lime zest in jasmine rice, freshly grated white cheddar and Amish chicken in a casserole. Yum!!

It’s really like going to a new trendy restaurant in your own kitchen.

Chicken and Kale Casserole with White Cheddar 

Will I subscribe to the meals? I’m pretty sure I will try a week of meals from time to time. I’d be more likely to subscribe if I could choose the exact meals I wanted delivered from the week’s menu.

If you are looking to cook more at home in the new year, or, like my friend Sarah, who cooks like Martha Stewart, but is tired of planning and shopping for meals. Or, just looking for more interesting ingredients,  check out their website, www.blueapron.com  for information and sign up for their emails to get the weekly recipes and delivery choices.

"Take Two Cups and Call Me in the Morning..."

Happy National Coffee Day!

 For years my motto has been “Who needs sleep when you’ve got coffee?” People warned me of the perils of caffeine. They told me my moods, my heart and my outlook on life would suffer from drinking the wicked brew. Guess what? Now doctors are saying that coffee is actually BENEFICIAL to our health! So “nyah na nyah” to all the naysayers over the years; If you wait long enough, some study will prove true what you’ve known all along!

Stanley Segall, Ph.D., professor emeritus of nutrition and food sciences at Drexel University in Philadelphia has revealed that caffeine provides “a number of beneficial effects on a laundry list of conditions”. Caffeine can increase both mental focus and alertness, and improve memory. It can cure a headache, and even help guard against diseases that cause cognitive decline.

The researchers have even found that a blast of caffeine can temporarily enhance athletic performance, especially when it comes to stamina and endurance by keeping muscle and heart rate-stimulating compounds active longer. Along with all of this, a 2007 University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) study reported that caffeine can also reduce muscle pain.

Of course this doesn’t mean you can buzz through 2 or 3 pots on a daily basis. Stick with a limit of 300 milligrams of caffeine per day. An 8-ounce serving of coffee contains about 150 mg of caffeine, while the same size serving of tea has 40 to 120 mg. Cola has about 50 mg, and a 1 and 1/2-ounce serving of dark chocolate has 31 mg.

So don’t feel guilty drinking that first, second, or even third cup of coffee this morning. 

After all, it’s medicinal, right?

"Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes..."

   

There’s always something new and different to talk about in the fitness and nutrition world, but none of it is any good when you’re in pain.

   We all experience a sore shoulder, tight hips, heel pain or a strained neck now and then, but when the pain becomes so severe that it keeps you from functioning normally on a day-to-day basis, it’s time to do something about it.

   My husband has complained of knee pain since I first met him over 37 years ago. He was an avid snow skier, water skier, and tennis player in his 20s and 30s. Although he lost over 120 pounds seven years ago, he carried that extra weight and extra pressure on his knees for years. Since then, between lifting weights and spinning classes, he finally wore his knees down.

He’s been seeing an orthopedic doctor for years. He tried cortisone shots, physical therapy, and a number of other fixes. They had talked knee replacement and the doctor said to him “You’ll know when. You’ll tell me.”

   So when this last episode hit, a torn ACL and pain so bad, he couldn’t even sit in the back seat of a car with his knee bent, he knew it was time.

I was a little unnerved by the fact that he was having a bi-lateral total knee replacement. (He said he was only going to go through the rehab once) Every time he went for an appointment, the doctors and therapists would say, “Wow, that’s ambitious.” And the thought of him not being able to walk for an extended period of time really worried me.

   But, three weeks ago, he had the surgery. And the whole process has brought me back to the benefits of working out and keeping our bodies strong.

Ready for surgery with his purple socks!

    His recovery process actually began weeks before he even had the surgery. The physical therapists put him on an exercise regimen to strengthen his leg muscles and upper body muscles, so he could walk and get himself in and out of chairs following the surgery. Tricep and shoulder exercises to push off into a standing position. and exercises to strengthen the quads and hamstrings to support the new knees as they healed; all to prepare for what was to come.

   I can’t say enough about the surgeon, Dr. Donald Bassman, and the staff at Missouri Baptist Hospital.They kept me informed throughout the surgery with a text message beeper. I even knew when the right knee was finished and when they started on the left knee. (My husband must have enjoyed the anesthesia because apparently, when he came out of it, he thought he was on top of a mountain looking down at a sea of Minions)

   

Ice Therapy machine

During his time in the hospital section, they showed me how to use the ice therapy machines and the CPM (Constant Passive Motion) machine that he’d be using at home. They had him standing up the first day and walking with a walker the next day. By the third day, they were able to move him to the Acute Rehab wing of MO Bap and thus began the intense, accelerated rehab training to total recovery.

   

Sock puller. hook and grabber

Considering that his legs had been cut, bruised, rotated and bent in the surgery, he was taking pain pills, and his endurance was zapped, it was amazing what they had him doing. We take the daily functions in life for granted, but because he still was unable to stand or bend with full balance and flexibility, he had to learn new techniques and use new tools even for getting dressed. They showed him how to use the long handled shoehorn and shower brush, a “grabber” and hook, even a sock puller. That in itself was exhausting, but then he spent 3-4 hours each day working with the physical therapists.

   The exercises worked on bending and stretching his legs and climbing stairs. They had him walking for long periods of time and doing strengthening exercises. He’s pretty competitive, so they would challenge him and he’d keep pushing.

   I was most impressed with the patience the physical therapists have. Even a bend of 2 degrees more than the one before, or a small one inch lift of the leg made a huge difference. Imagine pushing your workout to its limits for that extended period of time. Needless to say, he was wiped out after the tough sessions.

   The physical and occupational therapists, nurses, aides, food service and housekeeping people were all incredibly kind and caring. When he was released to come home, I was confident he would be able to maneuver the house and the stairs and, along with out-patient therapy, continue with the rehab training they had given him.

   He’s been home over a week now and I’ve seen him bring that intensity to recover home with him. I know he is in a lot of pain, but he pushes through the workouts they gave him. I see him get stronger every day, and I know his pre-surgery workouts have helped accelerate the healing.

   His out patient physical therapist, Marysa has worked with him before and she challenges him to work harder in every session. I’m just amazed at the progress he has made. If someone who just had knee surgery can work that hard to get stronger, there’s no reason why a healthy adult can’t get in a workout a few days a week.

Going easy on him to start before she works him to exhaustion!

   He’s looking forward to the eventual outcome of being able to live a pain-free lifestyle. I’m pushing for him to be able to dance with me at the upcoming weddings we’re going to this winter. (I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to keep up with me, but I know he’ll try, lol!)

"Kickin' It Old School..."

I’ve always been one to try a new workout. I’ve embraced step, Zumba, spinning, interval workouts, kickboxing, yoga and old school aerobics.

In the past year, I’ve tried everything from Burn to Boxing to Crossfit and gym classes like Strike and TCX.

They all give me a great workout, but lately, I’ve been really sore, really tired and ridiculously hungry.

I’m working out harder and my weight is climbing.

Is it my age? (Maybe) Lack of recovery time? (Probably) Over confusing my muscles? (IDK), but I had all the symptoms of overtraining, even after taking some time off.

Sooooooo… I looked through my old workout files and found a really simple strength and fat burning schedule and decided to give it a try. 

Before I started my addiction to every “New” workout around, this was my go-to workout plan when I needed to give myself a kick-start. I do this same workout for 4 weeks and then switch to something new.

This full body workout hits all the large muscles first (Legs, Back, Chest), then the smaller muscles (Biceps, Shoulders, Triceps), then Abs. You only do the weight workout three days a week, giving your muscles time to repair from lifting in between.

On the days between, aim for a 45-60 minute cardio workout that challenges you but doesn’t exhaust or overtax the muscles.

You can run, walk, spin, climb, row, box, do the elliptical or mix up a few. If I’m on a machine, I usually alternate speed, incline, and/or intensity: 40 seconds high, 40 seconds low to start.  (If that’s too difficult, go 20 seconds high, one minute slow, Too easy, slow it down for only 20 seconds between)

For the weight workout, do 4 sets of each exercise. 2 sets heavy (meaning heavy enough that you can only do 8-10 reps ); and 2 sets light (meaning you can do 12-15 reps easily)

Pick on exercise from each group 3 x a week. Cross off the ones you have already done so you don’t repeat it until the next week. That way you’ll focus on all parts of each muscle by the end of the week.

1) LEGS-Leg Press, Walking Lunges, Squats

2) BACK-Low Rows, Mid Back Row, Lat Pulldowns

3) CHEST-Incline Flyes, Push Ups, Decline Press

4) BICEPS-21s, Hammer Curls, Concentration Curls

5) SHOULDERS-Side Raise/Front Raise, Overhead Press, Rear Delts

6) TRICEPS-Tricep pressdowns with bar, Rope pressdowns, Dips

7) ABS-Hanging Leg Raise (Or Leg raise on bench), Obliques (side to side with weighted ball), Crunch on Bosu or mat

After the first week, I’m down a pound and my jeans are a little looser, so I have high hopes. You can modify if you need to by doing only one set heavy and two sets light to begin with.

Hey, it’s about a month until the pools open; just enough time to start seeing results from this workout.

"Let's Talk About Stress Baby..."

When I was in college, Transcendental Meditation was just becoming popular in the United States. The Beatles were in their "mindful" stage and they had sought out the Maharishi to help them de-stress and "find themselves".

My roommate was dating a guy who was training to become a TM teacher and she thought it would be cool if we learned to meditate. We went through the "classes", received our mantras and had a sort of spiritual ceremony to mark our success.

My first attempt at meditating

I did it regularly for a while and then just sort of used it when I was really stressed out. I’d sit in my car or lock myself in the bathroom and try to meditate to calm down. It helped a little, but I used it more as a reactive band-aid to stress rather than a proactive lifestyle change.

Last year, I began reading more about the medical studies on the benefits of daily meditation. Studies about how school children were improving both scholastically and behaviorally from classroom meditation practice began to surface.

These studies found that regular practice — even just a few minutes per day –improved student’s self-control and increased their classroom participation, respect for others, happiness, optimism, and self-acceptance levels. It helped reduce absenteeism and suspensions, too. Another study showed that meditating regularly also helps reduce activity in the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center responsible for fear and stress reactions. It also increases the activity in the prefrontal cortex where we make our decisions, plan ahead, think abstractly.

“Ok. Sounds great,” I thought. I’ve always used exercise as a way to relieve stress and focus, but still, I’m not exactly the calmest person around. Why not try meditating again?

So, I began meditating about 5-8 minutes a once a day and worked my way up to about 20 minutes. I still remembered the mantra given to me when I first learned to meditate. According to how I was taught, the mantra acts as a “vehicle” that allows the mind to settle into increasingly subtle levels of thinking.

At first it was kind of difficult to stay still (Surprise!!), but as I continued each day, I found the time going by very quickly and I felt both relaxed and energized after I was done. I found that I like to meditate early in the day, either when I first wake up or just after I workout and stretch.

I was a little skeptical when I first started, but I’ve been meditating daily for almost two months now, and I really look forward to that time of day. If you asked me to describe how it has affected me, I’d say I’ve noticed subtle changes. It’s not like I’m suddenly calm all of the time, but my overactive “worry gene” seems to have relaxed a little bit. Instead of creating a thousand awful scenarios in my head when I’m worried about something, I’ve started to try and visualize a more positive outcome. (Of course that doesn’t stop me from regularly bugging my adult kids to make sure they’re doing ok).

I’ve also somewhat curbed my incessant people-pleasing and my need to be busy all of the time. (I said “curbed”; NOT “stopped”).

Even though I first learned the process through classes, you don’t NEED to be trained by the Maharishi in TM to meditate. There are many ways to put yourself in that calm state without being “trained” in workshops.

Just breathing in and out slowly and repeating a meaningless soft sound can work. If your mind wanders, it’s ok. And that’s kind of what helps you deal with stress; letting thoughts wander in and out. Just bring your attention back to the breathing and sound repetition when you realize it.

Or, if visualization works better for you, sit quietly and imagine a place of calm and comfort, and focus on your breathing that way. The same holds true when your mind starts to wander. You just bring yourself back to that place and the same breathing pattern.

So, with that in mind, just make some time to start.

Choose a calm place to meditate. There's no wrong place to meditate, But it might be easier when you're first starting out to be somewhere quiet: "Your mind will invent enough distractions on its own, so no need to sit somewhere where there are other things going on," says Danielle Ford, a meditation teacher based in Denver.

Choose a room with enough natural light to keep you alert. As a beginner, you might be prone to sleepiness, but as you get more used to the calming state of mind, dimming the lights and adding soft lighting such as candles can be inviting.

Get comfortable. You can position your body for meditation in any number of ways—sitting, lying down, kneeling—but ultimately, you should feel comfortable the whole way through. Keep an easy body posture and try not to clench your fists or jaw. It’s fine to adjust your body if you need to so you're not too focused on holding any one pose. I could never sit cross-legged with my wrists on my knees like most pictures of people meditating show. My neck always gets tight, so I usually sit in a place where I can put my head back with support.

Be Consistent. Usually, people find meditation most helpful if they do it early in the morning or just before bed. This allows you to set the stage for your day or to unwind from it. You can also try a “midday mindful moment” to decompress or focus on your tasks. Once you've found a time that works best for your life, try to stick with that.  I find that mornings are best for me. My husband laughs because he thinks meditation is like sleeping and why would I wake up early just to sit up and sleep?  But it’s a different state of mind. And seeing changes and results take time, so be patient with yourself.

Don’t try to fight thoughts, let them roll in and out of your mind.

Shunning stressful thoughts is usually a beginner's primary concern. Accept that your mind will wander. You can't stop thinking; you can only redirect your attention. Try to observe your thoughts and feelings without judging them, and you'll have an easier time keeping cool amid daily stresses, too. Many psychologists recommend meditation because it’s a great way to increase you resilience to stress. If you have anxiety, it does help calm your nervous system. It’s most helpful to people who are prone to rumination (unwanted overthinking, Hello? That’s me).

Focus on Your Breath

Focus on a body sensation, like your breath coming in and out of your nose, or your belly rising and falling. When stressful thoughts come up, don't worry. Simply refocus your attention on your body—again and again and again. And if it helps, you can also think of your breath as the central point of your meditation.

Start Small

As little as three to five minutes is enough. Meditating a brief amount of time, at the same time every day creates a habit—which you can then lengthen to 15, 20, or even 30 minutes when you're ready. I’ve slowly increased my time to about 20 minutes once a day and hope to find the time to meditate longer or more often.

And you can meditate in different ways, too. If you can’t sit still for that length of time, try walking outside somewhere without distractions and focusing on the sights, sounds and feeling the sun or wind on your face.

There are many ways to create a meditation practice but the main component is creating a time of day that allows you to relax with without the need to resolve problems or create anything new. It can be part of a yoga practice, or a separate time to let your thought process wander.

If you have 15-20 minutes for Facebook to suck you in, you have time to meditate.